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Masters of Evil (Earth-616)
. He then teamed with the Asgardians called Enchantress and Executioner. Their scheme to turn Thor against the other Avengers failed , as did their plan to use Wonder Man as a pawn to try and gain their trust and another scheme in which they were assisted by Immortus . Finally, Zemo had his Asgardian allies free Black Knight and The Melter from jail (though Radioactive Man had been deported to his native China.) While his Masters battled the Avengers, Zemo had captured Rick Jones, then acting as Cap's partner. Cap and Zemo dueled in South America. Blinded by the glare from his opponent's shield, Zemo fired his death ray wildly and died in the ensuing rockslide . Meanwhile, the remaining members were defeated by the Avengers after Thor transported them to another dimension so their battle would not destroy the city of New York . Opposing Avengers * Captain America * Thor * Iron Man * The Wasp * Giant-Man (Hank Pym) Masters of Evil II * Crimson Cowl/Ultron-5 (leader) * Black Knight (Dane Whitman) (infiltrator) * Klaw (Ulysses Klaw) * Melter (Bruno Horgan) * Radioactive Man (Chen Lu) * Whirlwind (David Cannon) The second team of Masters was organized by the android Ultron-5 (creation of the Avenger Hank Pym, himself previously Ant-Man and Giant-Man but then known as "Goliath") under the alias of "Crimson Cowl" . Ultron planned to launch a surprise attack on the Avengers in their mansion headquarters, and maneuvered the Avengers' butler Edwin Jarvis into selling them the blueprints to the Avengers' security systems. Their raid was successful, and the Masters took the Avengers captive. However, the nephew of the Masters' first Black Knight (Dane Whitman) had joined the villains in order to betray them to the Avengers, initiating the Avengers' rescue. Thus, the second Masters of Evil were defeated by the Avengers, but Ultron-5 escaped, to plague the Avengers subsequently without human accomplices. Klaw, the Melter, Radioactive Man, and Whirlwind challenged the Avengers a second time, but were easily defeated . Opposing Avengers * Goliath (Hank Pym) * The Wasp * Hawkeye * Black Panther (with support from Masters infiltrator Black Knight.) Masters of Evil III * Egghead (Elihas Starr) (leader) * Beetle (Abner Jenkins) * Moonstone (Karla Sofen) * Radioactive Man (Chen Lu) * The Scorpion (MacDonald Gargan) * The Shocker (Herman Schultz) * Tiger Shark (Todd Arliss) * Whirlwind (David Cannon) The third team was organized by the criminal scientist Egghead, enemy of Hank Pym and the Wasp. . Looking for accomplices to aid him in his criminal ventures, Egghead broke Tiger Shark, Whirlwind, the Scorpion, and Moonstone out of prison. However, before they could be of much use to him, Whirlwind sneaked away to get revenge upon the Wasp himself. The others followed to try to keep him out of trouble, but they all ended up in combat with the Avengers and lost. Egghead freed Tiger Shark and Moonstone, but replaced Whirlwind and the Scorpion with the Radioactive Man, the Beetle, and the Shocker. Egghead sought final vengeance on his long-time enemy Hank Pym, and sent the Masters of Evil to free him from the courtroom where he was being tried for certain crimes Egghead had framed him for. Egghead hoped to make it look as if Pym were a member of his criminal group in order to coerce Pym into working with him on a longevity serum. Pym pretended to go along with him but instead invented a device enabling him to defeat Egghead and virtually all the other Masters single-handedly. Egghead was killed when an arrow shot by Hawkeye caused a gun he was aiming at Pym to misfire. Opposing Avengers * Captain America * Thor * Iron Man * The Wasp * Hawkeye * She-Hulk (with support from inactive member Dr. Henry Pym.) Masters of Evil IV * Baron Helmut Zemo (leader) * Absorbing Man (Crusher Creel) * Tiger Shark (Todd Arliss) * Moonstone (Karla Sofen) * Titania (Mary MacPherran) * Whirlwind (David Cannon) * Screaming Mimi (Melissa Gold) * Grey Gargoyle (Paul Duval) * Yellowjacket (Rita DeMara) * Wrecker * Thunderball * Piledriver * Bulldozer * Goliath (Erik Josten) * Blackout * Mister Hyde * Fixer * Black Mamba The fourth, and arguably most effective, team was organized by Baron Helmut Zemo, the son of the previous Zemo. Inheriting his father's hatred of Captain America, the new Zemo sought to assemble the most formidable Masters of Evil ever. Rather than follow past practice with a team roughly the size of the active Avengers roster, Zemo decided to organize a veritable army of superhuman criminals, to assure victory over the Avengers. Zemo's long-range design for the largest assemblage of costumed criminals is not at present known, though he stated his intent to defeat the West Coast Avengers and the Fantastic Four as well. This reformed version of the team took over Avengers Mansion, causing considerable damage in the process. Zemo, a master strategist, was able to play on the Avengers' relationships to pick them off one by one. Zemo sends several of his minions on scouting missions, performing various tasks in preparation for the assault on the mansion. Meanwhile he must hold down his command by preventing subversion from Moonstone and giving his more physical recruits their promised action without striking too soon. Sub-Mariner has taken a leave of absence to reclaim Atlantis, leaving the team one Avenger short. Black Knight and Captain America were captured, as well as Jarvis; Captain Marvel was trapped in another dimension by Blackout; and Hercules is beaten into a coma. This leaves The Wasp, chairman at the time, as the only remaining active Avenger to retake the mansion. Meanwhile Mister Hyde tortures Jarvis, leaving significant lasting injuries to the faithful butler. It took a hastily-assembled squad of reserve Avengers to defeat this formidable version of the Masters. Opposing Avengers * Captain America * The Wasp * Black Knight * Hercules * Captain Marvel * Sub-Mariner Supported by reservists Thor and Doctor Druid and allies Ant-Man (Scott Lang) and Paladin and peripherally by Spider-Man. Masters of Evil V * Doctor Octopus (leader) * Absorbing Man * Gargantua * Jackhammer * Oddball * Powderkeg * Puff Adder * The Shocker * Titania * Yellowjacket (Rita DeMara) The fifth team was organized by Doctor Octopus, and bore little resemblance to any other incarnation of the team. Masters of Evil VI * Citizen V (Baron Helmut Zemo) * Mach-I (Beetle) * Techno (Fixer) * Atlas (Goliath) * Meteorite (Moonstone) * Songbird (Screaming Mimi) The sixth incarnation was again assembled by Baron Helmut Zemo, consisting of several of his former recruits along with previous Master, the Beetle. They were better known under the alias they adopted, the Thunderbolts. Masters of Evil VII * Crimson Cowl (leader) * Cyclone (Pierre Fresson) * Flying Tiger * Klaw * Man-Killer * Tiger Shark * Aqueduct * Bison (Billy Kitson) * Blackwing (Joseph Manfredi) * Boomerang * Cardinal * Constrictor (Frank Schlichting) * Dragonfly (Veronica Dultry) * Eel (Edward Lavell) * Icemaster * Joystick * Lodestone (Andrea Haggard) * Man-Ape * Quicksand * Scorcher * Shatterfist * Shockwave * Slyde * Sunstroke * Supercharger The seventh incarnation was gathered by the mysterious Crimson Cowl (Justine Hammer). After the Avengers and Fantastic Four seemingly perished fighting Onslaught, she, the daughter of corrupt industrialist Justin Hammer, gathered the Masters as a group of hired muscle. First working for HYDRA, they tried to garner the favor of the New York crime families. This incensed Citizen V and the rest of the Thunderbolts, seeing the Masters' legacy turned into mere mercenary work. When the Thunderbolts faced the Masters of Evil in battle she and her team escaped due to the blinding flash that accompanied the Crimson Cowl's teleportation effect. When next they fought Crimson Cowl escaped again. The Thunderbolts eventually turned on Zemo and Techno, who found themselves fugitives hated by heroes and villains alike. The Crimson Cowl saw this as an opportunity to induct the remaining Bolts into her Masters of Evil. She sent Cyclone to bait the Thunderbolts into walking into an ambush. After defeating the T-Bolts, she made her proposal "Join her and enjoy all the amenities that come with being in her organization or defy her and she would tell all of the Thunderbolts enemies how to find them. The Thunderbolts were given time to think over the situation but in the end decided they would rather take down the Crimson Cowl instead. When next they fought, it looked like the Crimson Cowl had won until Hawkeye, disguised as a new Dreadknight, saved the team. Hawkeye offered to become the Thunderbolts' new leader. One of his first actions as leader was to promise the media the capture of the Masters of Evil. The Masters began a plan to use a weather machine to blackmail world leaders for a billion dollars. The Cowl's numbers had grown from 6 members to 25. Realizing they were outnumbered, "Dreadknight" decided to use Moonstone and her reputation as a traitor to infiltrate the Masters. Moonstone was tempted to side with the Masters for real but eventually decided against it and took the Cowl down instead. Moonstone unmasked the Crimson Cowl and the Thunderbolts were shocked to find the Cowl was Dallas Riordan, their former liasion to the office of the New York city mayor. In reality, Dallas Riordan was actually the new Citizen V. She had been knocked unconscious when she began to interfere with the Cowl's plans for the weather machine. At the last moment Justine had teleported out of her costume and placed Dallas into it. Dallas didn't tell the Thunderbolts the truth because she was still bitter about being fired as the mayor's liasion because of the Thunderbolts deception as heroes. Eventually Dallas was rescued from jail by her team the V-Battalion. Opposing Thunderbolts * Citizen V * Dreadknight * Mach-I * Techno * Atlas (Erik Josten) * Meteorite * Songbird Masters of Evil VIII * Crimson Cowl (leader) * Black Mamba * Cardinal (joins Thunderbolts) * Cyclone (Pierre Fresson) (joins Thunderbolts) * Gypsy Moth (joins Thunderbolts) * Hydro-Man * Man-Killer (joins Thunderbolts) * Machinesmith (Samuel Saxon) The eighth incarnation, like the seventh, was recruited by Justine Hammer. Hawkeye, Songbird and Blackheath defeated most of them, and convinced several of them (Gypsy Moth (who took the name "Skein"), Cardinal (Harrier),Man-Killer (Amazon), and Cyclone (who refused to change his name) that the Crimson Cowl would kill them with a bio-toxin that Justine's father had surreptitiously placed in the majority of super villains he had employed over the years. Hawkeye inducted these Masters into the Thunderbolts. The Crimson Cowl was eventually defeated by Skein, who used her powers to deconstruct Justine's costume. Opposing Thunderbolts * Dreadknight * Songbird * Blackheath * Cyclone, Harrier (Cardinal), Skein (Gypsy Moth), and Amazon (Man-Killer) defect from the Masters Masters of Evil IX * Max Fury (leader) * Bi-Beast * Black Talon * Brothers Grimm * Carrion * Constrictor * Crossfire * Diablo * Firebrand * Griffin * Killer Shrike * Lady Stilt-Man * Lascivious * Letha * Madcap * Pink Pearl * Princess Python * Ringer (Keith Kraft) * Squid * Vengeance * Whiplash * Some unknown supervillains Max Fury and the Shadow Council organized a new incarnation of the Masters of Evil, which was discovered by the Secret Avengers during a mission run by Hawkeye and Captain America. Max Fury was able to recruit some other villains to join up with the Shadow Council's Masters of Evil at the time when Max Fury sets up a Shadow Council headquarters in Bagalia. While setting up the Shadow Council's headquarters in Bagalia, Max Fury later recruits some more villains in order to expand the Masters of Evil. Max Fury and the Masters of Evil later stop John Steele when he attempts to escape from Bagalia with the Serpent's Crown and the Crown of Thorns. | Equipment = | Transportation = | Weapons = Each teammates' arsenal | CustomSection1 = Appearances in Other Media | CustomText1 = *The Masters of Evil I appeared in Story 4 and Story 6 of the Captain America segment of The Marvel Superheroes Show. The lineup consisted of Baron Zemo I, Melter, Radioactive Man, and Black Knight. *The Masters of Evil appeared in the sixth chapter of The Avengers: United They Stand "Command Decision". In this episode, the team was formed by Baron Zemo II, Moonstone, Whirlwind, Absorbing Man, Tiger Shark, Dragonfly, Cardinal and Boomerang. *The Masters of Evil were the main villains in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance They were led by Doctor Doom, and Loki, Baron Mordo, Ultron, and Enchantress were his lieutenants.. * The Masters of Evil appeared in the show The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, formed by Enchantress (working for Loki), the leader was Baron Zemo, with The Executioner, Crimson Dynamo, Abomination and Wonder Man. Later, they recruited Living Laser, Chemistro and Grey Gargoyle. | Notes = *The story of the fourth incarnation of the team, "Avengers Under Siege", is generally considered the definitive Masters of Evil storyline. [File:Masters_of_Evil_IV.png] | Trivia = | Links = }} Category:Avengers Villains